Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 150

Chapter 150: Found Him

“Who goes there!”

The main gate of the Xuan Tian Sect was right next to the Heavenly Staircase. This wasn’t Rong Xie’s first visit, but it was the first time he had seen so many guards gathered in front of the gate.

It seemed they weren’t negligent in their defense; rather, they were focusing their energy on something else.

Upon seeing someone suddenly appear in the night, the guards immediately flashed their magical artifacts, aiming them at Rong Xie while eyeing him up and down with extreme vigilance.

Rong Xie put away the Cloud Dream Skiff and bowed to the guards. “I am Rong Xie of the Lingjing Sect, a close friend of your sect’s Xuan Tian Sword, Lu Yingqi. I once assisted the Mirror Palace in investigating the case of the former leader of the Hehuan Sect… I have come on an urgent matter to find Lu Yingqi. I trouble you two Senior Brothers to announce me.”

“A Lingjing Sect disciple?” The guard continued to size Rong Xie up with that wary look. “I don’t care if you’re the King of Heaven; without an invitation from the sect, no one enters!”

Rong Xie thought to himself, This isn’t good. Something must have happened at the Xuan Tian Sect for them to be so guarded against outsiders. His first thought was that the Lu family case had erupted, causing Lu Yingqi to be questioned, and consequently, visitors like him were being turned away.

But on second thought, the guards’ attitude suggested that anyone who came would be rejected. It didn’t seem targeted solely at Lu Yingqi’s visitors.

What exactly had happened at the Xuan Tian Sect? The sect’s Heavenly Eye wasn’t active, yet so many guards were gathered here…?

Knowing he couldn’t barge in, Rong Xie retreated. After walking some distance, he took out a long, sleeve-like bag. He hung it by his ear, and the bag grew in the wind, shooting out dozens of meters like a spiritual snake toward the main gate.

This treasure was called the “Shunfeng Ear.” Only the user could see its true form; to others, no matter how powerful the cultivator, it appeared as nothing but air.

This treasure allowed one to eavesdrop silently without needing high cultivation. When Rong Xie had been inventorying the warehouse, this was the first practical artifact he had thought of.

Now, the “Shunfeng Ear” proved its worth. The guards’ discussion drifted clearly into Rong Xie’s ear.

“Are we really not letting anyone in? That Lingjing Sect disciple just now looked somewhat familiar. He’s been announced here before. We’re just turning him away?”

“What do you know? Look at the timing! The Guardian Mountain Array has a hole in it. How it broke, what fell in… we still don’t have a clue…”

“Then guarding the main gate is useless. By all rights, we should be guarding the hole.”

“You think no one is guarding it? That hole… people have already been sent to search the mountain over at Zhilan Ridge.”

Hearing “Zhilan Ridge,” Rong Xie’s heart stirred. A strong premonition surged within him.

What kind of thing could smash a hole in the Xuan Tian Sect’s Guardian Mountain Array and fall near Zhilan Ridge? Could it be…

“I heard it was a huge fireball. Just like that—boom—it came crashing down. Half the forest is on fire!”

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The guards continued their discussion.

Rong Xie couldn’t help but straighten his back, his muscles tense. Memories of Shen Bingsi returning to the Huanxue Villa overlapped before his eyes like a phantom: A great fireball tearing through the sky, crashing in front of the villa gates, the impact shaking the ground and sometimes leaving a massive crater. As the roaring flames receded, Shen Bingsi would walk out from the fire. The flames would cleanse the dust from his body, licking affectionately at his form as he strode out, radiant and spirited, walking up to Rong Xie to speak impatiently.

Wearing out iron shoes in a fruitless search, only to find it without any effort.

Rong Xie wasted no more time. He mounted the Cloud Dream Skiff and flew along the outside of the Guardian Mountain Array toward Zhilan Ridge.

The night wind was biting. Rong Xie took out a compass, recalled the direction of Zhilan Ridge, and steered the skiff toward it. Halfway there, a sudden downpour rushed to meet him.

Night flight coupled with a sudden storm usually made for terrible travel conditions, yet Rong Xie was overjoyed. The heavens were helping him; the heavy rain provided excellent cover, making his movements much easier.

Sure enough, as he approached the vicinity of Zhilan Ridge, Rong Xie vaguely spotted a Xuan Tian Sect cultivator patrolling ahead. After weighing his options, he applied several invisibility talismans to himself and the Cloud Dream Skiff. Keeping the Shunfeng Ear active, he advanced cautiously.

Rong Xie successfully bypassed several aerial guards and arrived at the breach. However, continuing to hide his tracks proved difficult; the area around the hole was densely packed with Xuan Tian Sect cultivators. There was no chance to sneak through.

Rong Xie pondered for a moment, and an idea suddenly struck him.

“Damn it all, why is the rain so heavy today?”

“This weather is abnormal. Could it be related to the meteorite?”

“Stop chatting and keep watch! Until we find whatever smashed the array, no one rests!”

“Sigh—”

The Xuan Tian Sect cultivators hung their heads in dejection. Sheltered by rain-avoidance talismans, their feet planted on flying artifacts, they looked visibly exhausted.

“Excuse me, coming through.”

Someone squeezed forward from the back. The Xuan Tian Sect cultivators subconsciously assumed it was one of their own and made way. When they saw clearly that the person was a young man in green robes—distinctly different from their sect’s attire—standing on a glowing small boat, they immediately moved to intercept him.

The young man, however, unhurriedly bowed to them and stated his purpose: “Senior Brothers and Sisters of the Xuan Tian Sect, I am a disciple of the Lingjing Sect. Sect Leader Xue has just issued a Sect Leader Order commanding all Lingjing disciples wandering outside to search for the whereabouts of our fellow disciple, Shen Bingsi. I followed the fire spiritual energy left by Shen Bingsi to this place. I wonder if any of you have seen him?”

The Xuan Tian Sect cultivators’ instinct was to chase away this young man who had appeared out of nowhere. But hearing him mention a “Sect Leader Order” and seeing the Lingjing Sect uniform he wore, the words of dismissal didn’t come out so easily.

“What Shen Bingsi? You mean the former Adjudication Officer of the Ruthless Dao?”

“What would he be doing here? We haven’t seen him.”

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The young man in the Lingjing Sect uniform was, of course, Rong Xie. To establish his identity, he had specifically dug out his old disciple uniform from the bottom of his trunk. He hadn’t expected it to come in handy so soon.

Rong Xie pointed to the gaping hole in the Guardian Mountain Array. “Did you see a fireball fall down, and then smash—a hole appeared in the array?”

“Yes! We’re looking for that fireball right now!”

Rong Xie nodded. “That confirms it. The fire spiritual energy left by the fireball belongs to Shen Bingsi. I am his fellow disciple and am very familiar with his spiritual power. Let me go down and search; that way, you can report completion of your task, and I can report mine.”

The Xuan Tian Sect cultivators looked at each other. The rain was heavy, the sky was dark, and they had been searching for the better part of a day without finding the object that broke the array. If this dragged on, who knew when they could rest? Hovering in the air consumed spiritual power every second…

But this young man before them had nothing to prove his identity other than the uniform. They couldn’t rashly let him in. If he ran off, they would be in big trouble.

Rong Xie saw their hesitation and said, “I am acquainted with Lu Yingqi of your Ruthless Dao Palace. If you don’t trust me, you can invite him over. A confrontation will clarify everything.”

Rong Xie thought that saying this would remove their concerns.

Unexpectedly, they hesitated again.

“Forget it. Just calling Lu Yingqi over to identify someone shouldn’t be a problem, right?” one cultivator couldn’t help but say. “It’s not like he committed some unforgivable crime.”

“I’ll go find him!” another cultivator chimed in.

The other cultivators tacitly agreed to the action of fetching Lu Yingqi, and that cultivator flew off like the wind.

Rong Xie was secretly astonished. It hadn’t even been half a month, yet Lu Yingqi’s status in the Xuan Tian Sect had fallen to this extent? It must be the consequences of that Shang Qian publicly releasing the details of the Lu family case. If Shen Bingsi hadn’t had his mishap, Shang Qian wouldn’t have been able to intercept the position halfway, the details of the case wouldn’t have become known to the world, and Lu Yingqi wouldn’t be ostracized like this today.

Rong Xie’s emotions were complex for a moment. He had exposed the Lu family’s cauldron case initially just to protect Xiao Zhi and solve the hidden danger of Lu Yingqi’s premature death. He hadn’t expected the development to be so unpredictable. One simply couldn’t know what consequences a single change would bring. Now Xiao Zhi was safe, but Shen Bingsi and Lu Yingqi were…

A golden light flashed; someone was arriving on a sword.

Rong Xie’s gaze focused. For a split second, the golden sword glare made him excited, but he quickly realized it wasn’t the light of the Shengxie Sword. It was the effect of metal-element protective spiritual power maximized.

The cultivator who had gone to fetch someone was leading a male cultivator with an unfamiliar face. This man looked to be in his thirties, his face glowing with vitality, hands clasped behind his back. His bearing was even more arrogant than a sect elder. Somehow, Rong Xie immediately recognized this person as the legendary Shang Qian.

As soon as he appeared, the surrounding Xuan Tian Sect cultivators fell silent.

“Senior Brother Shang, this is the Lingjing Sect disciple.” The cultivator who had fetched him introduced.

Shang Qian looked Rong Xie up and down and laughed. “This Junior Brother looks kind. Why block him? Let him pass, let him pass!”

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Once Shang Qian spoke, the Xuan Tian Sect cultivators dispersed.

Rong Xie hadn’t expected to get in so easily. He cupped his hands in thanks to Shang Qian and headed toward the hole.

Shang Qian trailed behind, sticking to Rong Xie’s side, and asked with a smile, “I heard your sect issued a Sect Leader Order to find Sword Saint Shen? What happened to him? How did he end up falling into our Xuan Tian Sect? Are you sure you sensed his fire spirit? Are you very close with him?”

Rong Xie glanced sideways at Shang Qian. The smile on Shang Qian’s face was deeply uncomfortable. No wonder he let him in so easily; he was waiting to watch the drama unfold with Shen Bingsi.

Rong Xie hadn’t seen such an emotionally expressive Ruthless Dao cultivator in a long time. He put his perfunctory skills to use: “Replying to Senior Brother Shang, we aren’t very close. I just received the order to search. Since Senior Brother Shang, with such high cultivation, hasn’t found anything, I’m just trying my luck.”

Shang Qian seemed somewhat disappointed. He probed Rong Xie with a few more questions, gaining nothing, before impatiently transmitting orders for others to follow Rong Xie in his stead and hurrying away.

Rong Xie was only too happy to see the back of him.

Rong Xie landed on the fresh crater smashed into Zhilan Ridge. watching Shang Qian leave, he took out a transmission jade pendant engraved with the character “Ice” (Bing). While injecting spiritual power into it, he kept an eye on the movement on the ridge.

Two tailing Xuan Tian Sect cultivators followed Rong Xie from a distance. They had also been searching for a long time and had no desire to enter the dark, oppressive forest again.

Rong Xie quickened his pace, quickly shaking off the two.

To hear the vibration of the other transmission jade pendant more clearly, Rong Xie didn’t apply a rain-avoidance talisman. Rainwater spilled from the leaves above, drenching his head by the handful. He navigated through the muddy, slippery grass, his clothes soaking through in no time.

Where would Shen Bingsi be?

Why did he disappear so quickly after falling? Why haven’t the Xuan Tian Sect cultivators found a trace of him after searching for so long?

Rong Xie felt that as long as he figured out this question, he could find Shen Bingsi.

Calm down. Calm the mind.

Shen Bingsi certainly didn’t fall normally. If he could control his spiritual power, he wouldn’t have smashed a hole in the Xuan Tian Sect’s barrier.

This meant… when he came to Zhilan Ridge, his Dao Heart was already severely wavering. He couldn’t control the crash through the barrier, smashing a huge pit in the ground… his condition must be very bad.

Even in such a poor state, Shen Bingsi left the crash site immediately. Why? What drove him to reach his destination only to avoid everyone and hide where no one could find him?

Almost instantly, Rong Xie understood the reason.

He pushed aside the bushes, recalling the terrain he had seen while descending from the sky, and walked toward a secluded ravine.

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One way led up to the Ruthless Dao Palace; the other led to a ravine far from the crowds.

Shen Bingsi’s Dao Heart wavered, his flight failed, and after falling, he unhesitatingly chose the direction with the fewest people.

Because… he was just that kind of person. He refused to show a defeated appearance in front of his rival. Whenever he appeared, it had to be in glorious style.

He would rather endure internal injuries and hide in a ravine until he adjusted his breathing before going to see Lu Yingqi and Elder Bai.

Half an hour later, in a pitch-black ravine, Rong Xie finally heard the hum from the other transmission jade pendant.